Sceptres
There are 37 sceptres in total. 14 are owned by the remaining great noble houses (3 to each of 4 houses, 2 to Klorin) 12 are owned by 11 of the minor noble houses (1 to each of 10 houses, 2 to Tsedeq) 5 are owned by the Universal Church (and awarded by its patriarch according to his whims) 4 are owned by the League of Guilds (and usually awarded to its most prosperous or influential guilds). The sceptre that used to belong to the Authority Guild is of unknown status, maybe possession of the Church. 1 is owned by an Evvis pirate (the one which used to be Naprous sceptre). What are the sceptres? Many think them a gift of the Transcedentals. Certainly they are said to have arrived in our history at the time as they visited us and sealed our worlds form the infected symbiot planets. They have been our tools to speak to one-another, to maintain some small semblance of a communal culture. Many are lost and we know not where they lie but those that remain are our voices in the darkness and our voices in the imperial court. The sceptres each represent a single vote for Imperial reagent. They are also each entrusted to a specific individual (characters within a house or one of the NPC factions). Every four years (4 turns; each turn is 1 Erebus year) a new regent will be voted into power. The candidates are free to campaign however they like but must be a sceptre holder. Voting is performed through the sceptres themselves and the vote represents the opinion of the sceptre-holder (and may or may not represent the opinion of the player controlling that noble house depending on character loyalty). The Imperial reagent is heir to the throne of the assassinated emperor and of the Imperial fleets, armies and espionage bureaus. The Imperial reagent must appoint a sceptre holder to each of these appointment: ‘Imperial Fleet Admiral’, ‘Imperial Garrison Captain’, and ‘Keeper of the Imperial Eye’. The sceptre holding reagent may assign his own house to any single one (and no more then one) of these appointments if they so wish (but will then have 2 of its characters involved in politics and less available for their own use (which could be good or bad). No single house can hold more then one of these appointments at any one time. Failure to vacate the seat after the election will result in prompt and rapid response by the other noble houses and by the church as well as the sceptres themselves which guard against this sort of behavior. The sceptres are either magical or of such extremely high technology that they might as well be magical. The bearer of the sceptre is bonded to it (a process that takes 3-4 years- four turns) and gains immunity to age and resistance to poisons and disease (though some of the poisons and diseases designed in the last century are so lethal that the sceptre will provide no protection whatsoever). Additionally the sceptres allow instantaneous communication over any distance (voice only) which greatly assists with diplomacy and explaining how messages get around so quickly. Sceptre abilities These are the known functions of the sceptres. *take four years to bind to, *binding results in cessation of aging and freedom from most diseases and toxins, *allow instantaneous telepathic communication with any single or group of other scepter-bound individuals, *allow the scepter-bound to vote for the regency *force a vote for the regency every four years (or when the current regent ceases binding to the scepter or dies) with only individuals binding to or bound to a scepter as eligible candidates *force a vote for the regency when the current regent willingly abdicates *allow the regency to appoint a scepter-bound (or binding) individual to the posts of imperial fleet, garrison or eye commander *force the regent to appoint a new imperial fleet, garrison or eye commander upon the death, failure to complete binding, or abdication of the imperial commander, or the regent’s displeasure